GRAND CHUTE - Students who earn an associate's degree in business from Fox Valley Technical College can transfer to the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay with junior standing, officials announced Thursday.

The institutions formalized the transfer agreement Thursday in a signing ceremony at FVTC's D.J. Bordini Center.

"The business management program is a very good general business associate degree and frankly many of those students do look for a bachelor's option," said Scott Borley, dean of business for FVTC. "We haven't had one transfer (credits) to this extent within the UWs."

FVTC has similar partnerships with private universities, such as Lakeland College, but Borley said this is the first such partnership the college has entered into for its business program with a UW System school.

Students who take advantage of the option could transfer as many as 60 credits to UWGB and save nearly $11,000, based on an analysis of each institution's per-credit costs.

"I think it's a great example of collaboration between the UW System and the (Wisconsin Technical College) System. It's very efficient for the students — everybody's talking about the cost of college now and being able to lower the cost of college," Borley said. "I can't think of any drawbacks — I think there are so many benefits to it."

Transfer students may have to take some general education courses when they get to Green Bay, said Doug Hensler, dean of the Cofrin School of Business at UWGB. In addition, the exact number of credits they would need to complete a bachelor's degree will depend on what they decide to major in, Borley said.

The business management program is the largest at Fox Valley Tech, with more than 400 students enrolled. Borley estimated one-third of students will pursue a bachelor's degree.

"It's a pretty large pool of students who now can be thinking about UWGB whereas maybe in the past they weren't," Borley said.

UWGB has a similar partnership with Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay, Hensler said. It just made sense for officials to expand the relationship to the Fox Cities.

The credit transfer agreement may only be the beginning of the institutions' partnership. Hensler said he would like to see UWGB create similar pathways with Fox Valley Tech in other areas.

"The tech colleges are really terrific in this state … and I think it's a natural progression for UWGB and not just in business, but also in engineering technology and ultimately, engineering," Hensler said.

Besides increasing enrollment for UWGB, the university sees other benefits from the partnership, such as strengthening connections with Fox Cities businesses and educating more international students who study business.

Fox Valley Technical College has a sizable population of international students, and those who study business and choose to continue their educations at UWGB would bring valuable experiences to the program.

"It's terrific exposure for domestic students to be talking with international students and vice versa," Hensler said.